Mother

Like many an NES game from Metroid to the Legend of Zelda, this obscure EarthBound prequel is more an interesting proof of concept for ideas that would bloom into glorious brilliance on the SNES than a truly great game of its own accord. Still worth a look for the sake of sheer curiosity for an EarthBound nut like myself though.

Mother compels us to face the "anxiety of freedom." Its hostile world refuses to coddle, mirroring modern isolation. While the grind enforces a "Having" mode of accumulation, the narrative demands a "Being" mode—seeking immaterial melodies over material wealth. It portrays a nightmare of "technological necrophilia," where everyday objects turn hostile, suggesting that amidst this alienation, salvation lies not in domination, but in the active, productive power of human connection. - Full Review

A hard game to really evaluate. Unique and bizarre, compelling and diabolically frustrating. I wish it would relent a bit on the difficulty so I could explore it more.

The only RPGs I really played from the NES era were Final Fantasy 1 and this. I loved FF1 despite all its glitches and otherwise poor programming, and I liked this one a lot too. I did a complete playthrough recently, and found myself enjoying it even more than Earthbound on the SNES. Maybe that will change if I do a fresh playthrough of the sequel though.

I found this to be highly overrated and didn't see a lot of the appeal.